This disclosure relates to supporting components of a gas turbine engine.
Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section. During operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section and is mixed with fuel and burned in the combustor section to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases are communicated through the turbine section, which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and other gas turbine engine loads.
The turbine section of a gas turbine engine typically include alternating rows of rotating blades and stationary vanes. The turbine blades rotate and extract energy from the hot combustion gases that are communicated through the gas turbine engine. The turbine vanes prepare the airflow for the next set of blades. The vanes extend from platforms that may be contoured to manipulate flow. An outer casing of an engine static structure may include one or more blade outer air seals (BOAS) that sit outwardly of the blades and provide an outer radial flow path boundary for the hot combustion gases.
Vanes, BOAS, and other components are typically found at locations circumferentially surrounding a center axis of the gas turbine engines. The thermal energy level at a given axial position can vary across circumferential positions. Thus, one circumferential location may be hotter than others, due to any number of factors in the manufacturing of the gas turbine engine. The blades rotate across the entire circumferential extent, and thus each experience hotter and less hot areas. The BOAS and vanes, however, are generally stationary and thus some may sit in the hotter positions. This may lead to uneven wear of vanes, BOAS, and other gas turbine engine components.